Linking off-street parking to local transport and resilience policies

Off-street parking is commonly required by cities, which leads to an ever-expanding supply of spaces. This chapter reviews the literature to assess how off-street parking affects travel choices. The supply of parking has direct effects on travel, where the ease of parking makes driving more attractive, and conversely, limited or expensive parking reduces driving and encourages use of alternatives. Parking also has indirect effects on travel choices, where parking becomes a dominant feature of the built environment and inhibits walking, biking or transit use, in addition to increasing the cost of housing in places where alternatives to driving are abundant. Recent moves by some cities to reduce or eliminate parking requirements suggests that an era of parking reform is underway, and cities have tied parking reform to environmental, economic, and equity goals. Ultimately, parking remains a powerful tool for influencing travel choices, where more parking leads to more driving, but managing parking through prices and reducing required parking can nudge travelers toward other modes.